Why Can't Astronauts Eat Bread in Space? An Interesting Fact You Might Not Know!

According to SAEDNEWS, astronauts on space missions primarily eat foods that require adding water or reheating. Their food is also packaged in heat-resistant bags or containers, which have undergone specific processes before packaging.

For example, astronauts' menus include cooked meat, but this meat has been ionized on Earth before packaging. Therefore, fresh food products are very rare in space.

Astronauts typically have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with contents similar to military rations during tough missions.

Since the 1960s and the beginning of space exploration, NASA and other space agencies have banned the consumption of bread in space. However, during the Gemini 3 mission in 1965, two astronauts violated this rule, causing bread crumbs to scatter throughout the cabin. Both astronauts were immediately reprimanded.

Safety in spacecraft or the International Space Station is the main reason astronauts are prohibited from eating bread. Consuming bread produces crumbs that, in zero or low gravity, can pose risks such as equipment malfunctions or fires. Bread crumbs can also get into astronauts' measuring instruments, air filters, and breathing equipment. During their daily tasks, astronauts might accidentally inhale these crumbs or have them enter their eyes.

Such concerns have led to the exclusion of foods like chips, some cheeses, and salt from astronauts' diets.